COVID-19 Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters Meeting
Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum (left) is presiding over the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting for COVID-19 response held at Seoul City Hall on the 6th. On the right is Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon. December 6, 2021. [Image source=Yonhap News]
[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Son Seon-hee] Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said on the 6th regarding the Omicron variant virus, "We must absolutely prevent any further spread within the community," urging quarantine authorities to "put all efforts into thorough quarantine of incoming travelers and rapid tracing and blocking of close contacts."
On the same day, Prime Minister Kim chaired the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting at Seoul City Hall in Jung-gu, Seoul, stating, "Until the end of the year, we intend to focus all quarantine capabilities on four tasks: responding to Omicron, accelerating vaccination, expanding hospital beds, and increasing home treatment." He added, "Vaccination can no longer be optional," and earnestly appealed once again for the active participation of the elderly, parents, and youth.
As strengthened quarantine measures, including limiting private gatherings to '6 people in the metropolitan area and 8 people in non-metropolitan areas,' are implemented from today, Prime Minister Kim said, "This decision was made to reduce the surge in cases that reached 5,000 per day, reorganize the hospital bed operation system, and prepare for the threat posed by the newly emerged Omicron." He also expressed sincere apologies to small business owners and self-employed citizens who have endured hardships so far.
Regarding complaints raised about the expansion of the quarantine pass, he said, "The quarantine pass is not an unfair discrimination but a minimum promise that everyone must keep to protect the community," adding, "Many countries with high vaccination rates have already introduced and widely implemented the quarantine pass."
Concerning the hospital bed securing situation, Prime Minister Kim stated, "The administrative order issued last month has been fully implemented, and with the voluntary cooperation of medical institutions, we have expanded about 2,400 beds nationwide, including intensive care unit beds, as of yesterday," and pledged, "We will continue to secure hospital beds to a level that can handle 10,000 confirmed cases per day."
Meanwhile, after the meeting at Seoul City Hall, Prime Minister Kim plans to hold Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meetings in Gyeonggi and Incheon. He explained the purpose, saying, "This week's Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meetings will be held sequentially in Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon to intensively inspect the quarantine situation in the metropolitan area," and "especially to share the response status of cities, counties, and districts at the forefront of quarantine and discuss more effective quarantine measures together."
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